In protest to the firing of 18 registered nurses who stayed home during the Washington, D.C. area snowstorms in February, Washington Hospital Center nurses have decided on a one-day work stoppage, reports Cheryl Clark for HealthLeaders Media. The decision was made after online voting was made available between July 29 and July 31 to the hospital’s 1,600 nurses. About 42% of nurses voted. Out of that 42%, 80% voted for the stoppage....  Read More »

No matter how long you are in the nursing profession, you will always have to deal with patients and the patient’s family members. When a patient is hospitalized, it can be a very difficult time for their family, causing them to become more sensitive then normal. It is important to remember how you treat the patient and their family. Here are a few scenarios that can aggravate the patient and their family, and suggestions to help avoid...  Read More »

Not being a nurse, I’ve never really thought about what happens when patients are admitted to the hospital and they are smokers. However, this is something that nurses and healthcare providers have to deal with all the time, and a recent survey says that many are not offering patients any help with quitting. The survey, published in the July issue of Nicotine & Tobacco Research, finds that nurses and healthcare professionals often...  Read More »

On June 10, nurses from 14 Twin Cities hospitals participated in a one-day strike, the effect of which is still unknown. The disagreement is between the Minnesota Nurses Association and Twin Cities hospitals, and no one is sure who has the upper hand, reports the Star Tribune. Nurses want strict nurse-to-patient ratios, while hospitals want to decide those ratios on an as-needed basis. The sides are also disputing whether nurses should...  Read More »

A 12,000-strong nurses’ strike is planned for June 10. The nurses will represent 13 Twin Cities hospitals. On the same day, 13,000 California nurses will strike as well. The nurses in Minnesota are fighting proposed pension and benefit cuts. They are also fighting for the hospitals to commit to strict nurse-to-patient ratios. Citing economic woes, the hospitals are requesting more autonomy in this area, with the option of floating...  Read More »

This may be preaching to the choir, but I thought our readers would be interested: Jennifer Johnson, who will be a guest blogger on the topic of nurse practitioner schools among other hot topics in nursing on The Leaders’ Lounge, a nursing blog for Strategiesfornursemanagers.com, posted about why people decide to become nurses. Her first couple of reasons include: 1. To meet a critical need. There is a great need for qualified nursing...  Read More »

This contest started at the end of last year, and we had so many great submissions I just had to keep it going! All of your nominations for best nurse mentor were incredibly inspiring. Finally, though, we have picked TWO winners: Bev Perry and Lena New! Here is an excerpt from Jessica Perry, who nominated Bev Perry: “Bev Perry is a nurse whose motto has always been to treat every patient and staff member as she would want to be treated...  Read More »

About a month ago, I wrote about the University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC) AACN Nurse Residency Program,TM which dramatically decreased turnover rates for nurses in their first year on the job. The blog post prompted Daniel McCarthy, a retired airline pilot and flight instructor, as well as an aircraft mechanic, to write a comment. At 53, McCarthy went to nursing school and later became a nurse. Despite his experience in the tough field...  Read More »

With a shortage of primary care physicians, and the possibility that healthcare reform will exacerbate the problem by increasing the number of people with insurance, many healthcare providers and experts-along with 28 states-are debating how nurse practitioners (NP) fit into the solution. In Massachusetts, where universal healthcare has already been implemented, a law was passed in 2008 requiring health plans to recognize and reimburse NPs...  Read More »

The University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC) AACN Nurse Residency ProgramTM (NRP) has helped program participants achieve a 4.4% turnover rate of first-year nurses–quite a feat, considering the national rate is 27.1%. So far, 61 sites have incorporated the program, which equates to about 16,000 participating nurses since 2002. In 2009, 11 participating sites had a 100% retention rate. It seems the key to the program is providing practice...  Read More »